88 Civic Helpfulness 



the need of the work and who are not wholly insen 

 sible to the demands made upon them by the spirit 

 of brotherly love for mankind, lack either the time, 

 the opportunity, or the moral and mental qualities 

 to succeed in such work ; and to very many the sheer 

 distaste of it would prevent their doing it well. 

 There is nothing attractive in it save for those who 

 are entirely earnest and disinterested. There is no 

 reputation, there is not even any notoriety, to be 

 gained from it. Surely people who realize that such 

 work ought to be done, and who realize also how 

 exceedingly distasteful it would be for them to do it, 

 ought to feel a sense of the most profound grati 

 tude to those who with whole-hearted sincerity have 

 undertaken it, and should support them in every 

 way. This particular institution is under the man 

 agement of a creed not my own, but few things gave 

 me greater pleasure than to sign a bill increasing its 

 power and usefulness. Compared with the vital ne 

 cessity of reclaiming these poor hunted creatures to 

 paths of womanliness and wholesome living, it is of 

 infinitesimal importance along the lines of which 

 creed these paths lead. 



Undoubtedly the best type of philanthropic work 

 is that which helps men and women who are willing 

 and able to help themselves; for fundamentally this 

 aid is simply what each of us should be all the time 

 both giving and receiving. Every man and woman 



